We have written previously about the newly founded community of Norbertine canonesses of Bethlehem Priory of St Joseph in Tehachapi, California, but now the growing community of 26 canonesses are preparing to move into their new accommodation and facilities.

An American news channel provides a fascinating tour of the new monastery and an insight into the life of the canonesses here. More information on the canonesses can be found elsewhere on the blog or on their website.

Please support the Norbertine canons and canonesses with your prayers, remember especially the new community of canonesses in Tehachapi and our community in Chelmsford.

Advertisements

Related

About piusdcollins

Simply Professed Junior with the Canons Regular of Prémontré in the canonry of Our Lady of Sorrows and St Philip Benizi, Chelmsford.

Our Holy Father Norbert

Norbertines of St Philip’s Priory, Chelmsford

"Live together in harmony, and be of one mind and one heart on the way to God" (Rule 1.2)

The Canons Regular of Prémontré were founded by St. Norbert at Prémontré, France on Christmas Day, 1120.

By God's grace, we live the canonical life based upon the ancient Rule of St Augustine (written around 400). At the heart of our way of life is a devotion to prayer and contemplation, which nourishes our various apostolic works in the world. There are five pillars to our Norbertine way of life that our holy father Norbert bequeathed to us:

- The praise of Almighty God in the sacred liturgy
- A zeal for souls
- A life of penance
- Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament
- Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially her Immaculate Conception

The Order arrived in England in 1138, until the suppression of the monasteries in the Reformation. By then, there were 38 houses (both male and female) in the British Isles. Expelled from these islands for over three centuries, we returned in 1872 and founded several missions.

Our own canonry became independent in 2004, and we established our home in Chelmsford in 2006.